Agnes Crawford
@understandingrome.bsky.social
Qualified Rome guide specialising in personalised tours. 23 years experience. Native Londoner, naturalised Roman. (Instagram: understandingrome)
Glimpses of a week packed with tours in Rome (which really doesn’t have to be busy). Never the same route twice
November 9, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Glimpses of a week packed with tours in Rome (which really doesn’t have to be busy). Never the same route twice
“Adult content”. We are so doomed…
November 1, 2025 at 12:26 PM
“Adult content”. We are so doomed…
One of my favourite columns on the Palatine this morning, here’s a post about the time I went to where it came from (no paywall) open.substack.com/pub/understa...
October 29, 2025 at 5:34 PM
One of my favourite columns on the Palatine this morning, here’s a post about the time I went to where it came from (no paywall) open.substack.com/pub/understa...
Presently leading a delightful band of folk on a Piero della Francesca themed study trip. Yesterday we meandered across the mountains to Urbino to admire the palace of Federico da Montefeltro “of glorious memory”. The first time I went I was twenty and it was quite the odyssey
October 1, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Presently leading a delightful band of folk on a Piero della Francesca themed study trip. Yesterday we meandered across the mountains to Urbino to admire the palace of Federico da Montefeltro “of glorious memory”. The first time I went I was twenty and it was quite the odyssey
I took a train in Umbria today and it trundled all the way to 1986
September 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I took a train in Umbria today and it trundled all the way to 1986
Some super floors in and around Rome on last week’s tours
September 15, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Some super floors in and around Rome on last week’s tours
“I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day…”
Crossing the tidal Thames on a bus yesterday reminded me of the Heart of Darkness, & a trio of Empires. Post now liberated from its paywall:
understandingrome.substack.com/p/never-far-...
Crossing the tidal Thames on a bus yesterday reminded me of the Heart of Darkness, & a trio of Empires. Post now liberated from its paywall:
understandingrome.substack.com/p/never-far-...
September 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
“I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day…”
Crossing the tidal Thames on a bus yesterday reminded me of the Heart of Darkness, & a trio of Empires. Post now liberated from its paywall:
understandingrome.substack.com/p/never-far-...
Crossing the tidal Thames on a bus yesterday reminded me of the Heart of Darkness, & a trio of Empires. Post now liberated from its paywall:
understandingrome.substack.com/p/never-far-...
Sunday 31st August is surely one of the Sundayest Sundays of them all. This was the coast near Rome earlier today, more or less where Aeneas washed up. Probably.
August 31, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Sunday 31st August is surely one of the Sundayest Sundays of them all. This was the coast near Rome earlier today, more or less where Aeneas washed up. Probably.
Villa Borghese on a (very gentle) trot this morning 💙💚💙
August 31, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Villa Borghese on a (very gentle) trot this morning 💙💚💙
This courtyard in Ferrara reminded me of St Jerome in his Study, by the inestimable Antonello da Messina
August 28, 2025 at 9:50 PM
This courtyard in Ferrara reminded me of St Jerome in his Study, by the inestimable Antonello da Messina
Cape Misenum, named for Aeneas’ trumpeter drowned for his hubris by Triton. It was once home to the most important base of the Imperial Fleet. The western Mediterranean was once controlled from here, and from here sailors were despatched to Rome to man the awning of the Colosseum #neverfarfromrome
August 23, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Cape Misenum, named for Aeneas’ trumpeter drowned for his hubris by Triton. It was once home to the most important base of the Imperial Fleet. The western Mediterranean was once controlled from here, and from here sailors were despatched to Rome to man the awning of the Colosseum #neverfarfromrome
Me and an unfinished column at the quarry of Cottanello “marble” on a delightful jaunt this morning. I wrote about it the last time I went, and the extraordinary columns in Rome which came from here. Lots of pictures, no paywall. understandingrome.substack.com/p/stones-of-...
August 19, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Me and an unfinished column at the quarry of Cottanello “marble” on a delightful jaunt this morning. I wrote about it the last time I went, and the extraordinary columns in Rome which came from here. Lots of pictures, no paywall. understandingrome.substack.com/p/stones-of-...
Briefly back in Rome and my evening walk looked like this, which is honestly pretty fab
August 19, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Briefly back in Rome and my evening walk looked like this, which is honestly pretty fab
A few days with Florentine pals at Forte dei Marmi: where the beach clubs are timelessly smart, a slightly knackered bicycle is the chicest mode of transport, and the mountains are made of marble
August 16, 2025 at 4:27 PM
A few days with Florentine pals at Forte dei Marmi: where the beach clubs are timelessly smart, a slightly knackered bicycle is the chicest mode of transport, and the mountains are made of marble
August traffic in Rome. Not pictured: three million percent humidity (approx)
August 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
August traffic in Rome. Not pictured: three million percent humidity (approx)
Vests fit for a Cardinal at Davide Cenci
July 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Vests fit for a Cardinal at Davide Cenci
Glimpses from my last spin around the Caravaggio show before it closes on Sunday. The rooms are too small and the lighting abysmal but otherwise it’s been a delight showing folk such an extraordinary collection of paintings!
July 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Glimpses from my last spin around the Caravaggio show before it closes on Sunday. The rooms are too small and the lighting abysmal but otherwise it’s been a delight showing folk such an extraordinary collection of paintings!
Glimpses of today’s tour: the Field of Mars and the Caravaggio show at Palazzo Barberini
June 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Glimpses of today’s tour: the Field of Mars and the Caravaggio show at Palazzo Barberini
I went to Ponza for a few days last week for the feast of the island’s patron San Silverio and it looked like this (& all without leaving Lazio) 💙💚
June 23, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I went to Ponza for a few days last week for the feast of the island’s patron San Silverio and it looked like this (& all without leaving Lazio) 💙💚
In other news the wild incoherence of exasperated Puritanism triumphs; as the world catapults towards Armageddon, the penises in Signorelli’s very own End of Days are the problem
June 18, 2025 at 7:07 AM
In other news the wild incoherence of exasperated Puritanism triumphs; as the world catapults towards Armageddon, the penises in Signorelli’s very own End of Days are the problem
Twenty-four years ago yesterday I did my first unsupervised tour. That means I’ve been a guide for just over half of my life. The number of extraordinary things to show folk is, so far, inexhaustible. Yesterday we explored Orvieto: Stripes, Signorelli, Skeletons, and Symposia.Too fabulous for words!
June 18, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Twenty-four years ago yesterday I did my first unsupervised tour. That means I’ve been a guide for just over half of my life. The number of extraordinary things to show folk is, so far, inexhaustible. Yesterday we explored Orvieto: Stripes, Signorelli, Skeletons, and Symposia.Too fabulous for words!
And this evening concluded with another totally private tour, this time the Borghese. Not terrible places to go to work! (Unfamiliar pieces are from temporary exhibition by Wangechi Mutu on atm, I like it)
June 10, 2025 at 8:04 PM
And this evening concluded with another totally private tour, this time the Borghese. Not terrible places to go to work! (Unfamiliar pieces are from temporary exhibition by Wangechi Mutu on atm, I like it)
A totally private spin around the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel with charming clients from Bellini Travel at the crack of dawn this morning.
June 10, 2025 at 11:20 AM
A totally private spin around the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel with charming clients from Bellini Travel at the crack of dawn this morning.
The Pincian Hill at dusk this evening
June 9, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The Pincian Hill at dusk this evening